Sunday, September 2, 2012

Occupy Skid Row is gone. LA Times lies about them

(This installment is incomplete but must be published.)

This story is mostly about Occupy Skid Row and of course leaves out critical details such as police arresting people for things such as not having their tents fully disassembled, leaving the reader to assume all Row arrests are for actual "crime". And that they confiscated Catholic Worker carts which they aren't supposed to touch. And more... ~MP

The CCA, a lobbying group who are the real power in this city, have been using the LA Times to demonize the homeless over the last several months as part of an effort to snatch up that cheap property and turn it into privately-owned pricey rentals.

OccupyLA joined LA CAN and other community networks against the CCA and their criminalization of the homeless by staging a nightly tent-in at 626 Wilshire, their office door. CCA have since been using LA Times to demonize OccupyLA. The police they own were used to create last month's police riot against the citizens of downtown during Artwalk in hopes the people of the city would blame Occupy. They failed. They will try again tonight.

So how should we view the dynamic regarding city hall, the CCA, and LAPD regarding the homeless and homeless support organizations?

Huge Subsidy for Stadium Architect

Villaraigosa quietly plans to hand Gensler $1 million meant for the poor

"How did Los Angeles city leaders turn $1 million
intended to help downtown’s homeless and low-income denizens into a
proposed subsidy for the global architecture firm designing downtown’s
proposed NFL football stadium?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
has decided to spend $1 million in federal grants — money that had been
avidly sought by residents of Skid Row — to instead help out San Francisco–based Gensler, a 2,800-employee giant that enjoyed $463 million in revenue last year."

That's how. This downtown stadium would help CCA and would use CCA "private security", increasing their power grab against the people of downtown. And the homeless? They're in the way.

Now word that the Occupy Skid Row encampment has been broken and scattered through continuous police harassment (and the lies which go along with that) in this hit piece:

LAPD, Occupy movement face new friction

Activists, who accuse police of a political agenda in skid row cleanup, plan another chalking protest.

There are several things wrong with this "article".

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This is of course part of their continuing campaign against Occupy via the CCA, who have actually directly written at least one article in LA Times (against the homeless). Using the Times as a mouthpiece to demonize and outright lie through omission to turn the people of the city against Occupy. Corporate influence of the press? That's Fascism!

“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power”

LAPD Captain Horace Frank, who is in charge of that area of downtown, and Lt. Paulson, who is in charge of the so-called "Safer Cities Initiative" which makes it illegal for locals to sit or sleep on the sidewalk during the day or to have their tents up even partially during the day, personally patrol and threaten locals with arrest as shown and discussed in this video. Please note the LA Times article (and of course the CCA website) makes no mention of nuisance arrests targeting, criminalizing the homeless, or of police captains and lieutenants wasting taxpayer money arresting people over tents.

There have been more arrests on the Row than there are residents. That's just wrong. This is only about gentrification, about profit and power.

Video of "They always come straight to Towne every morning". "I'm an enforcer".

Video of them stealing the CW carts during the General's arrest

Link to the Health Department report not including Towne or showing any violations on Towne especially feces and urine. SHAME on CCA.

This is Captain Frank telling one of his men how to attack a peaceful Occupy protest at his precinct. I note they are both staring directly at me as I record.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/7007468219_12ab9aaf09_o.png

Captain Frank also gave the orders at July's Artwalk to arrest anyone chalking (more Artwalkers than Occupiers). They wished people to blame Occupy for their arrests but all they managed to do was enrage citizens into resisting in large numbers.

All of this so CCA can gentrify Downtown for their own personal profit and power, all the while convincing you they are friends.

Is this really about water-soluble children's "sidewalk chalk"? Listen to 10 seconds of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and mayor Mr. Villain on the subject:

The General might say FUCK THAT:

Chief Beck had been driven slowly past the Occupy Skid Row site when they re-encamped a month or so ago after the "clean up", so you know that the camp had long been discussed at the top levels of LA power.